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A story about the police seizing an 11-foot alligator residing in an indoor pool has Florida written all over it, but that situation actually unfolded in a fairly unlikely place courtesy of a man who lives outside of Buffalo, New York.
Alligators are native to a number of states in America’s southeast, but the same can’t be said for New York. If you buy into one urban legend, some of those animals are wandering the sewers of New York City, but you don’t exactly need to keep your head on a swivel in the Empire State.
New York’s Department of Environmental Conservation understandably classifies alligators as a “dangerous animal,” and if you (for some reason) want to keep one as a pet, you need to obtain a license that gives you permission to do exactly that—a permit Tony Cavallaro, a 64-year-old who resides in the Buffalo suburb of Hamburg, had until a few years ago.
According to The New York Times, Cavallaro got that license because of Albert, the 11-foot alligator he’s had in his possession since buying him as a baby at a reptile show in Columbus in 1990.
The 34-year-old gator (which suffers from spine issues and is blind in both eyes) lived in an in-ground pool Cavallaro constructed inside his home, and he allegedly allowed some of his guests to take a dip with Albert if they were feeling brave enough.
Last week, police officers affiliated with the Department of Environmental Conservation arrived at Cavallaro’s home and seized Albert in connection to a law that was instituted in 2020, which required his owner to pay for zoo insurance and install a fence he claims would have set him back $15,000 (mandates he reportedly failed to meet).
The agency says Albert is currently in possession of a “licensed caretaker” as it searches for a more permanent home. Cavallaro says he’s hoping to be reunited with his longtime pet, although it does seem like there’s a chance he’s ultimately hit with criminal charges over the matter.